Let The Landscaping Begin

 It's time to start the finishing touches to our Spooky Old Halloween House, and like the title states, we need to landscape this baby so she can be proudly displayed in the bay window of our living room.  First on the list was to cut the base board down in size to fit the targeted area Babette has set for its display.  Next, I cut and attached some small trim to go around the outside edges to define the yard area where she can do her magic.  Once the house was positioned correctly on the base board, and more importantly Babette gave her blessings to its position 😄, I traced an outline of the house and marked the spots where holes were drilled from underneath for its attachment.   

After the holes were drilled, the board painted black and lightly sanded, it was screwed to the bottom of the house.  Next she was on to building a big tree for the front yard and a stump around on the back side of the house.  It was also time to start adding all the other assorted goodies to be strewn about the area.

Would you believe this is how she built her big tree?  First we screwed a dowel rod to the base and then slipped a piece of 3/4" PVC pipe on top.  Next she covered it with aluminum foil to get the desired shape, and finally wrapped the foil in masking tape so the paper mache would stick and allow it to look like a real tree when it is applied.  She went through the same process to build the old stump. (Those pics will be in my next blog post.)  As you can see, we also added some pieces of wood next to the tower; and wait a minute, what is that … why it looks like Rocky Raccoon is testing out the stump which I'm sure will eventually become his future home.    

Babette also decided to build a pet cemetery on the opposite side of the house next to the chimney.  Here is it's initial look, but more will be added to further enhance the overall feel before this resting  place is complete.   

She decided some fencing was needed to help define the yard area, and of course give it more character.  As you can see, she purposely broke some of the pickets to further enhance that old and neglected look.

And last, but not least for today's post, Babette added a few things to the front porch, like a rocking chair, black cat, and a door knob she made herself.  Leave it to Babette, if she cannot easily find what she wants, the girl will simply make it!  More will be added to this house and yard in my next post. Things like vines, rocks, dirt, mail box, and who knows what else.  It all depends on what's clicking in her mind before my darling bride says she's done. 

Stay tuned, my next post may be the last one for this project.  We've got to get her on display in our house before Halloween arrives!